Why petrol shortage may last till end of March

The south-west chairman of the union, Tokunbo Korodo, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, March 11.

He said if the slow process of loading petrol at both the depots of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the private depots is not improved by next week, thing would get worse in the coming days.

READ:Fuel Scarcity - IPMAN, PTD blame NNPC as petrol sells for N300/litre

“The pace of loading of fuel at NNPC depots in Mosinmi and Ejigbo is very slow as most tankers drivers that wanted to load left the depots with nothing,” he said.

“Even at private depots where they sell above the ex-depot price, the pace of loading is very slow. Presently, we need massive loading of petrol nationwide to get over the present scarcity.

“I am imploring the government to improve on supply of fuel to all depots nationwide so that our tanker drivers can get the product and transport it to filling stations” Korodo added.

In the wake of the announcement of the supposed unbundling of the NNPC, the country was plunged into another season of fuel scarcity as workers of the Corporation shut down operations nationwide.

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu has since resolved the issue with the workers, explaining that the Corporation was not unbundled but restructuredfor optimal performance.

However, since the workers' union , things have not returned to normal, as long queues are still recorded at filling stations across the country, with motorists and commuters stranded in some cases.